Synthesis gas is a gaseous mixture that contains various amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Synthesis gas, or syngas, is typically generated by the gasification of a carbon containing fuel into a gaseous product. There may be several uses for syngas, including the production of energy through combustion of the syngas as well as using the syngas as an intermediate for the production of chemicals such as synthetic petroleum.
Current methods of production of syngas may include partial oxidation, steam reforming, “dry” reforming with CO2, and autothermal reforming. These and other processes reform the hydrocarbon to produce syngas. However, current methods of syngas production from low quality hydrocarbons (e.g. bio-mass) typically require relatively large amounts of energy input to maintain the process at a steady state. Low quality hydrocarbons are those that have a relatively low heat calorific value. Thus, the energy released by the partial oxidation typically is insufficient to support the process. Further, a significant portion of the energy that is produced is typically lost because of design limitations. Partial oxidation of high quality hydrocarbons, e.g. liquid fuels, is also a process that difficult to control and typically results in soot formation in high temperature flame zones.
There is a need for an improved way to efficiently reform hydrocarbon fuel into syngas.